1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wire reels and more particularly to a portable motor driven wire reel for winding up and paying out electric fence wire, or the like.
Farmers-ranchers seasonally erect electric wire fences to maintain cattle or other livestock on selected areas of wheat to be grazed. These electric fences must be dismantled and removed at the time the cattle are removed from the wheat fields for allowing the wheat to mature.
This invention provides a reeling device for quickly reeling and storing the wire until it is to be reused.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wire reel prior patents generally relate to wheel supported mobile frames capable of winding up or paying out fence wire, or the like, and to apparatus for supporting a spool of wire to be payed out while supported by a vehicle while stationary or traversing the surface of the earth. Other wire or strand reeling patents disclose apparatus mounted on a boat for releasing or retrieving a ski rope.
The most pertinent prior patent is U.S. Pat. No. 3,070,324 which discloses a wire reeling device mounted on a vehicle in which a friction disk clutch connected with the vehicle transmission forms an infinitely variable transmission to permit manual control of the angular rotation of the wire reel with respect to movement of the vehicle. This patent also discloses a pivotally mounted motor driving the wire reel by a belt with belt tension maintained by a spring maintaining constant downward pulling pressure on the motor.
This invention is distinctive over prior patents, including the above named patent, by providing a relatively simple frame journalling a shaft having a wire reel connected to one of its end portions and a belt pulley at its other end driven by a belt entrained around a motor pivotally supported for movement toward and away from the frame with the entire unit mounted on a telescopically adjustable base to be supported in mobile fashion by a pickup truck or stationary earth driven standards.